Daily fitness and wellness tips

Category Archives: healthy eating

If you’re looking for a quick and healthy snack, nuts are the perfect option. Nuts contain the perfect amount of vitamins and minerals, healthy fats, and fiber plant sterols. For a bite size food, they contain a powerful nutritional punch.

Nuts are known for their many health benefits. A study assessed the health risks involving 13,000 people. The study concluded that those who ate nuts fared better off than those that didn’t. They had a decrease in BMI and waist circumference, lower weight, blood pressure, and the likelihood of many metabolic syndromes decreased. Many nuts such as walnuts, almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, and even cashews improve the vascular system as well. They promote proper blood flow and normal cardiac functions.

Nuts also combat the effects of some mental disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease, depression, and Schizophrenia. The contents of the omega-3 fatty acids combat these disorders, as well as help with rheumatoid arthritis.

Despite the many benefits, you should consume with caution. Nuts are a common allergenic substance, and being the allergic to one nut isn’t the same as being allergic to another. As long as you know what your body can and cannot consume, nuts are a wonderful healthy snack and can greatly improve your health!

Due to the stomach having to warm the water and the energy used to eliminate waste from the kidneys, metabolism increases temporary.

2- Eat fruits and vegetables such as asparagus, grapefruit, spinach, and broccoli; they are high in fiber and are non- starchy; this will increase your metabolism and sustain your energy throughout the morning. Asparagus and grapefruit are diuretics as they help flush out water from the body.

3- Limit sodium intake as too much sodium in your body causes it to hold onto water; putting more stress on your heart.

Eat a healthy breakfast with some lean protein- maybe an egg white and veggie omelet and some fruit.

Skip the bread, it’s just empty calories.

Add lower calorie veggies to your plate. Turnips are a good choice at 51 calories per cup with potatoes ringing in at 214. Check with the host that they are not smothered with butter. Green beans have 44 calories per cup, much better than the casserole which has 341 calories and 22 grams of fat.

Avoid soda and alcoholic beverages. Instead have water or an herbal tea, maybe apple or pumpkin spice. Sweeten with a little honey or stevia. For a lower calories alcoholic beverage, try a white wine spritzer. It has about 96 calories. Add 4 oz. wine and 2 oz. club soda and a lemon for garnish.

For dessert, just have a little.

Your Plan for Friday: Kick up your cardio today! Go for a long run, bike ride or walk. Enjoy 3 servings of fruit today. Apples, berries and grapefruit are good choices.

Have a large green salad for one meal today, 2 meals would be better. Drink at least half your body weight in ounces of water.

By skipping a meal you are training your metabolism to slow down. Your body goes into starvation mode and begins to slow down to try and store fat. It is are bodies way of keeping us alive.

Instead of skipping a meal to lose weight, plan your meals ahead of time and pack them. Plan on having 5-6 small meals throughout the day. All meals should consist of lean protein to keep you full and satisfied and lots of non-starchy veggies. Add some fruit, starches and good fat as well. If you are trying to lose weight, go easier on the starches, fruit and fats- but do add some to keep your meals balanced.

Eating a little good fat (like the monounsaturated fat found in olive oil, avocado and nuts) with your vegetables appears to help your body absorb protective phytochemicals, like lycopene from tomatoes and lutein from dark green vegetables.

So grab some of these healthy fats, add greens and tomatoes to enjoy a nice change. You should never get bored with salads either because there are so many options and recipes out there as well!

There are many diets out there, and sometimes it could be hard trying to decide which one is for you, and sometimes it can be difficult, as some diets are strict, bland, or boring, which can make them hard to stick to.
The Mediterranean diet is not one of these! This diet consists of flavorful fruits, vegetables, and colorful meals.
The Mediterranean diet emphasizes:
• Getting plenty of exercise
• Eating primarily plant-based foods, such as fruits and vegetables, whole grains, legumes and nuts
• Replacing butter with healthy fats such as olive oil and canola oil
• Using herbs and spices instead of salt to flavor foods
• Limiting red meat to no more than a few times a month
• Eating fish and poultry at least twice a week
• Drinking red wine in moderation (optional)
Research has shown that the traditional Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of heart disease. In fact, a recent analysis of more than 1.5 million healthy adults demonstrated that following a Mediterranean diet was associated with a reduced risk of overall and cardiovascular mortality, a reduced incidence of cancer and cancer mortality, and a reduced incidence of Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.

Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable, cousin to broccoli. It is rich in antioxidants and nutrient filled. Cauliflower is rich in vitamin C, vitamin K, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, magnesium, phosphorus, fiber, vitamin B6, folate, pantothenic acid, potassium, and manganese.
Cauliflower contains sulforaphane which may aid cancer patients. Reports show it kills cancer stem cells and slows tumor growth.
With only 25 calories in a cup, there is every reason to add this to your menu!